Thursday, June 16, 2016

As country develops, many explosives are used to split rocks and boulders - along the highway, tunnels and houses. While there is a rule by the Ministry of Home & Culture Affairs on the use of explosives, the concern lies much on how far the monitoring is in place.

With many hydropower projects in place and many to come, all the detonators and explosive materials are widely in use. Up until now, there has been a proper dispatch of such materials after availing approvals and escort diligently done by Royal Bhutan Police to any corners of the country. However, the works do not stop here. While it may be properly stored in the designated magazine at the proximity of work sites, the consumption of such dangerous materials are seen not closely monitored to. The explosives once in the hands of Contractors are up to them to handle with anything they want.
It is often the expatriates who handle explosives from submitting requisitions to the magazine incharge to carrying them openly in the lorries to construction sites. In most of the cases, the explosives are transported loosely and the record of consumption has been rarely kept. In the mega construction projects where blasting is done round the clock, such monitoring between the magazines to sites, the quantity that has been used and the handing over of balance materials need to be practiced rigorously. Explosives are useful if properly used but it can create havoc if mishandled. Praise their trust for nothing have been misused until now. But hey! if you have any animosity with anybody, a kilogram of power gel is enough to blow up your house, and 10 kilos the entire village.

It is with ernest hope that all the end users continue to use it safely but it must not limit just to their trust. There has to be a mechanism enforced from the top and religiously heeded by the implementers in the ground. Delay shall prove fatal.